Obwarzanek from a Cart and Lunch at a Milk Bar

At the far end of the Cloth Hall on Krakow's Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square), small blue and yellow carts sell obwarzanek krakowski — a ring-shaped bread roll sprinkled with sesame, poppy seeds, or cheese, boiled and baked in the traditional manner since the 14th century. The European Union has granted obwarzanek krakowski Protected Geographical Indication status. They cost about 50 groszy (approximately twelve cents). They are essential.

Krakow's milk bars (bary mleczne) are a Polish institution that survived the communist era and the transition to capitalism through sheer stubbornness and public affection. They are self-service canteens — formica tables, plastic trays, handwritten menus on chalkboards, no liquor licence — serving traditional Polish home cooking: pierogi (dumplings) with potato and cheese or with sauerkraut and mushroom, bigos (hunter's stew of cabbage and meat), zurek (sour rye soup with hard-boiled egg and sausage), barszcz (beet soup). A three-course lunch costs approximately four euros.

Krakow is one of the most beautiful cities in Central Europe and one of the most affordable in the EU. The Wawel hill with its royal castle and cathedral dominates the southern end of the Old Town; the Jewish Kazimierz district to the south has the city's best restaurants, bars, and most human scale. The salt mines at Wieliczka (30 minutes by bus) are a UNESCO World Heritage wonder: 300 kilometres of tunnels with chapels, lakes, and sculptures all carved from salt, some 135 metres underground.